Hi everyone! I wanted to be able to say Happy 2021, but with the UK going back into full lockdown, it doesn’t really seem appropriate, so instead I’ll say, I hope you’re all okay, especially my UK followers. I know that it’s necessary, but honestly, I’m feeling very frustrated, and sad, and tired by the whole thing. The thought of being locked down for another seven weeks, possibly longer, is something that I’m massively struggling with especially since I know how hard it’s going to be this time.
This sucks, and it’s ok to admit that, we don’t have to be positive all the time. If you are also having negative feelings about this new lockdown, then you aren’t alone. I just wanted to say that at the top of this post, because social media seems to get flooded with “positive vibes” whenever a new lockdown is announced, so if like me, you’re not really in a “look for the positives” place right now, then that’s fine and valid, and you’re not the only one who feels like everything sucks right now.
Anyway, sorry for that super lengthy intro, clearly had a lot to get off my chest! It’s Tuesday, the first Tuesday of 2021, and that means another Top Ten Tuesday, courtesy of Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. As with last year, we’re starting off 2021 talking about our Most Anticipated Releases For The First Half of 2021. The first half of this year is jam packed with a lot of great new books coming out, and these are the ones I’m most excited for (in release date order, so number is no indication of level of excitement!):
- Lore-Alexandra Bracken-Releases 7th January
You know me, obsessed with Greek mythology, so obviously this new release from Alexandra Bracken is right up my street. It sounds very Hunger Games-esque, with Greek heroes teaming up to try and kill Greek Gods and that just sounds like an awful lot of fun, so I’m really looking forward to reading this one.
2. Tales From The Hinterland-Melissa Albert-Releases 14th January
I have an e-ARC of this from Netgalley, though I’m not sure when I’m going to get to it as I’m still behind from last year! I wasn’t a massive fan of The Hazel Wood, and I didn’t read the sequel, but I’m really looking forward to this book as the snippets of the Tales in The Hazel Wood were my favourite parts, so I think the whole book of them will be really great.
3. The Mask Falling (The Bone Season #4)-Samantha Shannon
Ah my most anticipated release of the year. We’ve been waiting for The Mask Falling for A LONG TIME and I can’t wait to see what happens to Paige and Warden next. I have an e-ARC of this from Netgalley so I should be reading it very soon!
4. Muse (Muse #1)-Brittany Cavallaro-Releases 2nd February
I’m not entirely sure when or if this is releasing in the UK, but it releases in the US in February. An alternate history American monarchy sounds super fun, and I’ve definitely been on a historical fantasy kick in recent years, so I’m hoping this will be another one I enjoy.
5. A Court of Silver Flames (A Court of Thorns and Roses #4)-Sarah J Maas-Releases 16th February
I do hate the cover, but thankfully, I’m going to be reading Sarah J Maas’ books in audio from now on as they’re simply too large to consume in physical format! I’ve still got ACOWAR and ACOFAS to read before I get to this but I’m hoping to finish both of them this month before this book is released.
6. Liberte (Enchantee #2)-Gita Trelease-Releases 18th February
Enchantee was one of my favourite books of 2019, and I’ve been desperately waiting for Liberte for two years, so I’m super excited that it’s almost here. I can’t wait to see what Camille gets up to next and to dive deeper into the French Revolution.
7. Bridge of Souls (Cassidy Blake #3)-Victoria Schwab-Releases 4th March
I’ve got to admit, I don’t love this cover, I think it’s a little crowded and prefer the US one. But I’m super excited for this book, I really enjoyed City of Ghosts and Tunnel of Bones last year, and these small books are the perfect palate cleansers in between a lot of my chunkier fantasy books!
8. Phoenix Flame (Havenfall #2)-Sara Holland
I wasn’t massively in love with Havenfall when I read it last year, but I did think it had potential and wanted to see what happened next, so I’m cautiously looking forward to the sequel. I just hope it’s more exciting than the first book!
9. City of Spells (Into The Crooked Place #2)-Alexandra Christo
Into The Crooked Place was one of my favourite books of 2019, and I’ve been waiting over a year to find out what’s going to happen next to Tavia, Karam, Wesley and Saxony, especially as the first book ended on such a cliffhanger!
10. Rule of Wolves (Nikolai Duology #2)-Leigh Bardugo-Releases 30th March
It sounds like this is going to be the end of the Grishaverse for a while, as Six of Crows 3 doesn’t seem to be on the horizon for a while, so I’m looking forward to seeing how Leigh wraps things up in this book. I was a little disappointed by the first one, I’m hoping more of the Crows might appear in this one and that it’s a little more exciting than King of Scars.
11. Dead or Alive (Skulduggery Pleasant #14)-Derek Landy-Releases 1st April
The penultimate Skulduggery Pleasant book! I’ll admit, I didn’t love the 13th book as much as I would have liked and this new “phase” of the series has been a little uneven, but I always love spending time with Skulduggery and Valkyrie so of course I’m excited for their next adventure. It’s going to be so weird when this series is over, I’ve been reading Skulduggery Pleasant books for half my life!
12. Mina and The Undead-Amy McCaw-Releases 1st April
I’ll admit, I’m not usually a horror reader (I know Skulduggery has horror elements, but it still fits pretty firmly into Urban Fantasy), but Amy was my Secret Sister for the #otspsecretsister project in the August-January ’17/’18 round and she was so lovely, so I’m super excited that she’s releasing a book and really want to support her as an author! I have this on Netgalley and am super excited to start reading it closer to the release date.
13. Ariadne-Jennifer Saint-Releases 29th April
Can I just take a second to say how gorgeous that cover is? Because WOW. Anyway, as already established, I’m a massive Greek myth nerd, so naturally, this Ariadne and Theseus retelling is right up my alley and I really enjoyed Circe last year, so I’m looking forward to reading another Adult Greek mythology retelling.
14. Sky Breaker (Night Spinner #2)-Addie Thorley-Releases 4th May
Night Spinner was a really lovely surprise from last year, so I’m super excited to find out how Enebish’s story wraps up in the final book of this duology. I’m not entirely sure how I’m going to get hold of it, since I got the first book on Netgalley and I’ve not actually seen the first book in the UK, but we’ll figure that out closer to the time!
15. Mister Impossible (Dreamer Trilogy #2)-Maggie Stiefvater-Releases 18th May
Ha ha is anyone at all surprised that I’m excited for the new Maggie Stiefvater book? You shouldn’t be. Call Down The Hawk didn’t quite live up to my expectations, but I’m hoping now that the groundwork for the series has been laid, this second book will be more fun with a less messy plot!
16. A Psalm of Storms and Silence (A Song of Wraiths and Ruin #2)-Roseanne A. Brown-Releases 1st June
I really enjoyed the first book in this duology last year, and it definitely left off in a super exciting place, so I’m looking forward to seeing where this second book takes Malik and Karina and how it wraps up their stories.
So that’s my most anticipated releases for the first half of the year! What books are you looking forward to this year? Any of these on your list? Let me know in the comments!
I’ll be back next week with another Top Ten Tuesday post, this time we’ll be talking about our Resolutions/Hopes For 2021, though I prefer to frame them as Goals, so my post will be my Goals For 2021.
bookloversblog 
I’m in the UK too and feeling quite tired of everything. The lockdown seems really needed because of how overwhelmed the hospitals are. It feels pretty grim right now. I’m at risk so I’ve basically been in lockdown since March, only going out for exercise and doctors appointments mostly.
Lore made my list as well, I’m really excited for it! I’m not quite caught up on Grishaverse books, I still need to read King of Scars as I haven’t read that one yet!
I totally understand why the lockdown is now needed, I just really wish the Government was actually proactive about this whole thing rather than just reacting when we reach another crisis. I hope you’re able to get the vaccine soon!
Lore does sound super good! You’ve got plenty of time to catch up with KoS before RoW is released in March 🙂
Yes they seem to keep reacting to things way to late and waiting until things are really bad to do anything!
Yes, it’s so frustrating! And the constant flip-flopping has made it really difficult to settle because as soon as I get used to one set of restrictions, a new set will be brought in!
I’m excited for Lore.
Ontario went into another lockdown on Dec. 26. Our hospitals are in dismal shape, so I totally understand why they’re doing it. But I’m feeling lockdown fatigue just like you are.
My post.
Yes, it sounds so good. Ours are here too, it’s definitely not difficult to understand the why, I’m just so tired! Every time it seems like it might be the last one, another one happens!
i hope the situation there gets better soon 🙂 lore, muse, a court of silver flames and rule of wolves are also on my list haha. love your post!!
So do I! Great minds clearly think alike. Thank you 🙂
I can’t wait for Rule of Wolves, Bridge of Souls and Mister Impossible either!
My post!
So many new releases from favourite authors this year, I love it!
City of Spells has such a beautiful cover.
It really does!
I’m sorry to hear about the new lockdown – definitely understand that you’re not in the mood for positive thoughts, it’s okay to feel frustrated and negative sometimes! Wishing you all the best in the coming weeks.
There are a lot of great books to look forward to, so at least there’s that! I’m also excited about Lore, A Court of Silver Flames, Ariadne and Rule of Wolves.
Thank you! Yes, I’m so grateful that there’s lots of new books to look forward to in the next few months, will make it much easier if I have lots of reading material.
Muse looks so interesting, I hadn’t heard of it.
Me either until a few days before I made this list tbh!
I totally agree with you. Even though lockdowns and such are necessary measures, and we’re aware of that, we can still feel upset about it. It’s a really difficult situation to be in. It takes a lot to stay afloat in a time where we have to go without so many things that previously brought joy or stress relief. Of course it’s nice to be friendly and positive to each other online. But it doesn’t have to be all positivity all the time. Sadness and anger are allowed to exist too 🙂
On a completely different and much less serious note: I’m amazed by so many of the beautiful covers on this list! I’m not much of a fantasy reader but the covers are just pulling me in. Cover artists are really stepping up their game.
Thanks! I know that people’s hearts are in the right place and they’re just trying to make you feel better when they post positive messages about getting through lockdowns, but I just want to be able to feel sad and angry for a bit without feeling like I’m strange for not being able to see the positives right now.
I know right! The covers I’ve seen so far for 2021 have been AMAZING, I wish that the cover artists names’ were easier to find though, they really should be credited on cover reveals and that doesn’t always seem to be the case!
Ooh I’m loving the cover of Ariadne. I’m a big fan of mythology too so I need to add that to my tbr. I’ve still to read some of the earlier books in the series from some of your picks otherwise I’d probably be including on my ttt.
It’s so gorgeous, I really wish I knew who designed it. Including the designer on cover reveals needs to be more of a thing than it seems to be! Yes, this year definitely seems to be a year of sequels for me, I hope you enjoy the earlier books in those series!
Muse is one I’ve not heard of, but it definitely sounds right up my alley! I’m going to check that one out now!
I hope you enjoy it when it comes out!
Lore sounds good. I LOVED Enchantée, and I got lucky enough to get an ARC of Everything That Burns/Liberté–it was my favorite book I read last year. I hope you love it as much as I did!
It does! I’m so glad to hear that, I really loved Enchantee too, so I’m happy to hear from people who have read Liberte already that it was great. I actually requested it and got approved on Netgalley quite soon after I did this post, so I should be reading it soon!
I’m in the UK aswell and am bored of lockdowns and not sure what’s happening with uni! We also have some similar books on our lists 🙂
I feel so bad for Uni students right now, it seems like no one has really thought of you guys at all, which really sucks, you deserve so much better! Yay for having similar anticipated releases 🙂
Honestly, I have no idea what I’m doing and it sucks! All A Level and GCSEs are being changed and yet I still have an essay and an exam next week and then another dissertation deadline! It’s so stressful!
That does sound awful! I hope that clearer guidance comes in place for you guys soon and you get more support, dissertation time is stressful enough without a pandemic, let alone in the current circumstances.
I am not familiar with a lot of these, so I must remedy this. Hope you enjoy all these reads!
Thank you! Glad to have helped you find some new books 🙂
Some beautiful covers here, Ariadne in particular. I need to read A Song of Wraiths and Ruin soon so I can anticipate the 2nd book haha
Yeah I thought so, cover designers are definitely bringing it in 2021 (bar whoever designed the ACOSF cover because I’m sorry, it’s awful). Ariadne has such a gorgeous cover, I wish I knew who’d designed it. ASOWAR is so good, I hope you enjoy it.
Yes, the ACOSF cover is so disappointing, those colours together are quite jarring to me. I’ve liked the previous covers in this series but this one is definitely not to my taste.
I don’t mind the silver background but why on earth would you pair it with orange? It’s such a terrible combination. I mean I kind of understand the cover change because they’re changing to market to an adult audience, but I think they could have done so much better!
I still need to read Tunnel of Bones – need to get on that before the third Cassidy Blake book comes out.
I’m sorry about the lockdown. I’m not in the UK, but I imagine it’s tough and not easy on everyone’s mental health.
-Lauren
http://www.shootingstarsmag.net
It’s so short, will definitely be easy to squeeze in before March. Yeah, the March one was really hard, and that was when it was sunny outside, so the bad weather combined with general January awfulness, is definitely going to make this lockdown worse. Hopefully with the vaccine being rolled out though, this will be the last one and there won’t be a need for such stringent restrictions again.
Wow, lots of great books to look forward to! I also hate the cover of A Court of Silver Flames. It hits on one of my biggest bookish pet peeves! I also wasnt a huge fan of The Hazel Wood and I didn’t read the sequel. However Tales from the Hinterland sounds good; I will have to check it out. Happy reading!
Yes, thankfully, I need a lot of books to look forward to in the next few months, there’s not much else! I know, it’s so so ugly (out of interest, what is the big pet peeve?). Yeah The Hazel Wood was kind of dull and slow to me but I thought Tales From The Hinterland sounded like it had potential, so I’m hoping it will be good. Happy reading to you too!
The U.K. has been very serious about its lockdowns! That must be difficult and frustrating, but hopefully, your diligence will pay off. The governor of my state is pretty wishy-washy about lockdowns and stay-at-home orders and I believe we now have the highest rate of COVID cases in the world. Ugh. When will this all be over?? Hang in there!
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
I wish! This is our third lockdown, our last one was only in November but basically it was pretty ineffective and this new strain of the virus spread pretty badly so now we’re having to do it all over again. Our Government has been pretty bad throughout this whole pandemic, they always act when it’s too late to really make a difference as opposed to trying to prevent the crisis in the first place. I realise you guys have had it even worse in terms of leaders though, I hope things start to turn around for you guys soon! I hope it won’t be too long, we have our vaccines being rolled out here now and they’re hoping that the most vulnerable will be vaccinated by mid-February, could be over ambitious, but we’ll see! Thank you, I’m trying!
Wonderful, wonderful list! I added Lore to my TBR! Ahh, I really want to read it now. haha
Thank you! Ah I love it when I help add new books to other peoples’ TBRs. I hope you enjoy it!
I’m sorry about the new lockdown. It is so frustrating. Lore looks really good- love Greek myth- and the Albert book looks good, I’m in the middle of her Night Country books…
Yes, it’s so frustrating, I really hope that this is the last one and that the vaccine gets out to all the vulnerable people in the UK in the next month or so. Yes Lore looks great, I’m hoping that I will enjoy the Albert book, I wasn’t massively fond of The Hazel Wood so I didn’t read The Night Country, but this new book sounded like it would be fun.
I knew the UK had a new lockdown but I didn’t realize it was 7 weeks. Ugh. That does suck. I’m currently in southern California and even though we’re currently “locked down,” things aren’t as fully closed down as they were back in March. They probably should be because the hospitals simply don’t have any rooms available.
I haven’t read any Alexandra Bracken in ages and Lore sounds great! I’ll have to look for it.
And that’s the minimum, the likelihood is we’ll probably be locked down into March depending on how fast they can get the vaccine rolled out to the most vulnerable. That’s awful, I mean that’s what our Government is trying to avoid, but I reckon most of the damage has probably already be done.
I hope you enjoy Lore if you decide to read it!
Bridge of Souls 😍😍 I was so sad when this got pushed back, but it’s making me even more excited for it to finally be released. I’ll definitely be rereading books one and two in the lead up! Hope you’re staying safe and well xx
Thankfully I still had the first two books to catch up on, so it being pushed back actually worked quite well for me! Thank you, I hope you are too 🙂
I’ve been seeing Lore everywhere and it’s really spiking my interest – that cover is pure heart eyes!
It is definitely stunning!
Lore and Muse look good! I will probably also read Bridge of Souls, Mister Impossible, and Phoenix Flame since I read the others in the series. Great list! 🙂
They do right? I hope we both enjoy all of those. Thank you 🙂
I am mad that we AREN’T in lockdown, and honestly, it is a crappy situation regardless. I hope that it goes by quickly for you, and I guess I’ll just have to hope that we in America don’t all die of incompetence and selfish foolishness, but you know, we might hah.
I really enjoyed Liberte (or whatever it is called in the US- they changed the titles for some absurd reason- probably the aforementioned selfish foolishness- but in my mind it is Liberte too!) so I hope you do too! And I am currently reading Muse and it is enjoyable so far! I am also wildly excited for A Psalm of Storms and Silence, but it doesn’t come out here until August, but I did pre-order it! Hope you enjoy all of these!
It really is an awful situation and I understand why it was necessary, but I don’t think it had to be? It’s the constant yo-yoing that is the worst part of it for me, I feel like I’m never allowed the chance to settle into the new restrictions before they instantly changed! Our Government always seems to be reacting to the next crisis rather than proactively trying to prevent another one which is incredibly frustrating. I hope you and yours are doing okay with everything that’s been happening over there in the last few days, it’s been pretty horrifying to watch.
I’m glad to hear that. Yeah I’m not really sure why they change the titles there either, since we seem to have kept the same ones here! I’m glad to hear you’re enjoying Muse, I’m not sure when I’ll be able to get my hands on it, since I don’t think Brittany Cavallaro has a UK publisher, and I’m trying not to buy books from Amazon anymore. AGH I’m so excited for Psalm, I’ll be getting the audio, probably sometime over the summer. Thank you 🙂
I’m really looking forward to The Mask Falling, Mina and the Undead, and Ariadne too 🙂
Yay! I hope you enjoy them!
Oh! This is the first I’m hearing of A Psalm of Storms and Silence, but I for sure need that book now! I really want to read Lore, too, for all the reasons you said!
It’s the second book of a duology, A Song of Wraiths and Ruin is the first, highly recommend. Lore sounds so good!
Great list! I need to work on getting my TBR down (theres definitely some that’s been there for more than two year! Oops.) and good luck with your reading tbr! I’d already done this prompt in another post so I had a go at my top ten favourite albums lol. You seem like you’d have good taste in music, what are yours? Here are mine 😊 https://hundredsandthousandsofbooks.blog/2021/01/12/ttt-12-1-top-ten-albums/
Thank you! Oh me too, I definitely have a lot of books on my TBR that have been there for A WHILE. Oh that’s cool, I’ll check it out. My music taste can be pretty much summed up as Taylor Swift and musical soundtracks, so I don’t think we have a ton in common!